Two suspected illegal drug pushers were killed by the police in separate buy-bust operations in Rizal province, officials on Friday said.
In Teresa town, a man identified only as alias “Caloy” was killed around 11:45 p.m. on Thursday. A report from the Rizal provincial police said undercover policemen conducted the sting operation on a rice field in Barangay San Gabriel.
The suspect must have sensed danger when the other officers operatives came out of hiding and he immediately drew his gun and fired at the police, according to report read. This prompted law enforcers to fire back and kill the suspect.
Police recovered a .38-caliber pistol from Caloy.
In Binangonan, another drug suspect, Mark Jayson Pasahol, was also killed in a buy-bust operation around 4 a.m. on Wednesday in Barangay Pag-asa. Police said Pasahol also engaged the authorities in a gunfight as he was being arrested.
A gun and three sachets of suspected “shabu” were recovered from Pasahol, the police report said.
In the Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon (Calabarzon) region, more than 10,000 drug users have surrendered to the police since President Rodrigo Duterte took office.
From July 1 to July 31, 2,523 suspected drug users were arrested, while 57 had been killed in police operations, according to a report from the regional police headquarters.
Duterte and the Philippine National Police chief, Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa continue to defend the killing of crime suspects in police operations, saying they were shot because they resisted arrest and initiated a gunfight.
This is despite criticism from the Church, civic and human rights groups, and prominent personalities in the country and abroad, as well as growing public doubts about the official police reports of the so-called shootouts.